Morocco is seeing a massive boost in broadband Internet efforts as Maroc Telecom, an established telecom operator in the North African country, announced a MAD 10.1 billion upgrade to the current network in the country.

The announcement was made in a statement to the French stock market regulator.

French telecom giant Vivendi, which owns 53 percent of Maroc Telecom with the other 30 percent owned by the Moroccan government, believes the new investment will help push the country’s broadband Internet services forward in 2013 and pave the way for greater development of Internet in the country.

It said it “will invest the amount between 2013 and 2015.”

Maroc Telecom said in a statement that it “will also invest MAD 4 billion in other African countries where it operates, such as Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Gabon and Mali, over the same period.”

The move has been welcomed by observers, who tell Bikyanews.com that the Internet expansion push across Africa will help create new means for getting online in previously under-served regions.

The operator has inked an agreement with the government to “modernize and expand infrastructure to meet the growing needs of mobile traffic and broadband, including optical fiber,” it added.